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Second half buries Bulldogs in 93-87 road loss at Oklahoma

3rupauk8_400x400by:Robbie Faulk•about 17 hours•

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Josh Hubbard (Photo by Mississippi State Athletics)

After putting together two strong performances against top 20 teams, Mississippi State laid an egg to one of the SEC’s worst.

Oklahoma entered the weekend on a five-game losing streak, but the Bulldogs gave them life. 59 second half points allowed the Sooners to build a double-digit lead and they would hold off a late run from State in a 93-87 victory.

It was a tale of two halves for the Bulldogs, neither of which were particularly sharp. In the first half, it was State’s offense that was struggling as the team fell behind by eight points early. Offensive rebounding and points converted from turnovers allowed State to push ahead and lead 37-34 at the break.

In the second half, it was apparent early that the Bulldogs were going to struggle to stay on pace. Oklahoma made nine of the first 10 shots and 4-of-5 from 3-point range in the first 5 minutes to jump out to a lead that would grow to 14.

An 87-73 lead in the final minutes was healthy enough although the Bulldogs were able to cut it to 90-87 with 20 seconds to go.

State dug itself in a hole by again struggling to shoot from long range and defend it. The Sooners became the 11th team this season to hit at least 10 3-pointers as they made 11-of-26 in the game and the Bulldogs fell to 2-9 in games when team hit 10 or more.

While State finished 10-of-31 from long range, it wasn’t until late that the Bulldogs began to connect from distance regularly. Josh Hubbard led the team with 4-of-10 makes from deep and 19 points. Hubbard was 7-of-7 from the line with five assists and three rebounds but also had four turnovers and was just 4-of-12 from the field.

KeShawn Murphy had 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting with seven rebounds and 6-of-6 makes from the line. Claudell Harris had 11 points with a trio of 3-pointers and Riley Kugel had 11 points but was an ice cold 5-of 17 from the field and 1-of-6 from three. He had five rebounds.

RJ Melendez finished with nine points and 10 rebounds in 28 minutes.

The Bulldogs were excellent from the line at 19-of-22 and scored 18 points off of 11 turnovers while outrebounding Oklahoma 42-31 and 20-8 on offensive boards. The difference came in the second half as the Bulldogs couldn’t get stops needed.

With the loss, State (19-8, 7-7 SEC) lost some momentum after the two wins over Ole Miss and Texas A&M and now has to try to rebound against a top 10 Alabama team next Tuesday. The Bulldogs go to Tuscaloosa and plays the Tide at 8 p.m. on ESPN2.

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